REVENUE FROM CONTRACTS WITH CUSTOMERS Contract Liabilities Activity (Details) - Mileage Plan Revenue [Member] - USD ($) $ in Millions	12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Contract with Customer, Liability	$ 1,874	$ 1,725	$ 1,534
Contract with Customer, Liability, Increase From Issuance of Credits	858	805
Mileage Plan Services, Other [Member]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	(90)	(73)
Passenger Services [Member]
Contract with Customer, Liability, Revenue Recognized	$ (619)	$ (541)

Amount of obligation to transfer good or service to customer for which consideration has been received or is receivable.

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130531-203044

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=82913815&loc=SL49130532-203044

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 606
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 8
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=109196051&loc=SL49130549-203045

Name:	us-gaap_ContractWithCustomerLiability
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant